Eight journalists were taken on a tour from 4 to 6 June of EU-funded projects in Katowice, a city in the Śląskie (Silesian) region and Konin, in Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland).
The visit informed journalists about the EU’s cohesion policy and how the Just Transition Fund is supporting coal regions in Poland to make the transition to green energy sources.
Visits to museums, a coal mine and power plant
On the first day, in Katowice, journalists received a technical briefing on EU support for a just climate transition by DG Regio experts Marta Wnuk and Joanna Rylko.
This was followed by a visit to the Silesian Museum. That evening, journalists were treated to a concert at the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra. Both venues are in the Katowice cultural zone, or Strefa Kultury.
During the second day, journalists met the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship, Jakub Chełstowski, and Silesian mayors. Afterwards they were taken to see the renovated Museum of Metallurgy in Chorzów, near Katowice.
The European Regional Development Fund co-funded both museums and the concert hall.
On the final day, journalists were given a tour of Konin’s power plant and its open-pit coal mine.
Ensuring best use of EU funding
Mr Chełstowski told journalists that the region had received about EUR 10 billion in EU funding in recent years, as part of efforts to prevent job losses that will result from the move away from coal.
“Our goal was and is to be an example to Europe in the correct use of this money,” Greek newspaper Xronos-kozanis reported him saying.
The Museum of Metallurgy in Chorzów was developed as part of an EU-funded project to revitalise and protect the post-industrial cultural heritage of Upper Silesia and create a unique cultural and educational offer for residents and visitors. The project “Revitalisation and access to the post-industrial heritage of Upper Silesia” was co-financed under the Operational Program Infrastructure and Environment for 2014-2020, with a budget of EUR 91.4 million, of which the European Regional Development Fund contributed EUR 77.6 million (85%).
The museum is part of the European Cultural Route of Industrial Heritage. It is located in the former Huta Królewska power plant and recalls 200 years of the city’s industrial history.
The Katowice cultural zone was developed on the site of a coal mine that had been in operation since 1823. When it closed in 1999, the area fell into disuse. The revitalisation started in 2009. The Silesian Museum is located partly underground, on top of the disused mine shaft. Both it and the concert hall were opened in 2015.
The cultural zone includes an international conference centre with a grass-covered roof, and the Spodek arena. It is an example of how a mining area has been successfully turned into a hub for business, sport and culture. Local residents and tourists attend annual events held there, including the Tauron New Music Festival in summer.
A visit to the Konin coal-fired power plant
In Konin, journalists were given a tour of the Pątnów power station, a lignite-fired power plant and coal mine both owned by Ze Pak SA, the largest private energy group in Poland. The company is constructing a green electrolyser producing hydrogen on the site, a project supported by an Innovation Fund grant of EUR 4.5 million.
The 5 MW electrolyser will produce green hydrogen for public buses. The project started in October 2021 and the electrolyser is scheduled to come into operation in January 2024. Annual hydrogen production capacity is expected to be 710 tonnes per annum, which would provide fuel for about 84 buses.
The project will contribute to the development of a low-emission transport market in Poland and has the potential to be scaled from 5 MW to 50 MW in 2024-2030, if demand for hydrogen-powered buses increases.
The journalists were also shown the open-pit coal mine which will be closed and turned into an artificial lake in 2024.
The power plant is already producing 55 MW of electricity from biomass, some of which is supplied by local farmers. Xronos-kozanis reported that the plant provides loans to farmers, to enable them to build small wind turbines on their land. The electricity they generate is used to produce green hydrogen at the Ze Pak electrolyser.
Thanks to these initiatives, Konin is well on its way to providing heating and transport for the city’s residents from renewable energy.
The power plant also has a training facility where technical education students specialising in renewable energy, and approximately 200 Ze Pak employees, are learning to install photovoltaic panels.
To ensure that workers are not negatively affected by the closure of the mine and the coal burning units of the power station, an agreement was reached with unions to provide voluntary pensions or retraining in renewable energy technologies, Xronos-kozanis reported.
The participating journalists were from Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Romania. The European Correspondent, a voluntary association of 150 journalists from across Europe, was also represented. Two of the journalists had not previously participated in a DG Regio media programme.
Another three journalists are part of the EUinMyRegion Train Trip project and only visited Katowice.
The trip generated media coverage about the topic and increased the media network of the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG Regio). DG Regio manages the fund.
Leaving coal behind
In 2022, Poland was responsible for 19 % of the EU’s total lignite (brown coal) consumption, in second place behind Germany, with 45 %.
EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans visited Konin in May this year to discuss how the European Commission could expedite state aid for coal workers. He said the region could serve as a blueprint for other coal regions in Poland. Ze Pak president Piotr Woźny said during the visit that the company is already implementing plans for the site and its workers in preparation for the post-coal era.
The Eastern Wielkopolskie Voivodeship could become the first coal region in Poland to phase out coal by 2024, in line with the Paris Agreement, and achieve climate neutrality by 2040 – a decade earlier than the EU's target.
